Works by Isaiah Calinao

------------------------------------------- Yesterday my smile was earnest, till the day diffused by eve Excruciating words are helpless; they stab so sharp, and deep

But now, I walk this line stumbling, with our memories far off side

Awaiting when you are here, wishing your voice to be near Faintly swaying this sultry temperature Surely, our feelings route towards the same direction

The dazzling view softens seamlessly

And then I found myself recognizing your smile

Having the urge to say: “for your sake” seems fraudulent today But those kind of words, shallowly disperse when you daresay My self-righteousness dares me to try reaching despite our loss Just being close to you is what I value in the end The sketchy future deceives our obscuring fable grief Hostile worded assumptions; they stab so sharp, and deep But now, we drift through life wondering, what lies in great reside Looking for a dream to sear, searching for your voice out there …Still now

Embracing the faint darkness of the night Surely, our voices will glow towards the future from now

This heart I held captured carefree devout

And then I found myself writing my own story too

Here we are, dreaming forth to a vast beyond This dashing fire burning fervidly

The songs you sang, still hold dear to where I’ll be

The “me” who will change, the scenery that remains

If only I could hold onto you both a moment more…

Tell me please, why do these feelings wish to remain?

Still, a single word cannot frame a solitaire domain Even so, your righteousness pushes you to take on alluring drive

I hope I can be a light who melts your freezing heart going forth

Yesterday my smile was earnest, till the day diffused by eve Excruciating words are helpless; they stab so sharp, and deep

But now, I walk this line stumbling, with our memories far off side

Awaiting when you are here, wishing your voice to be near Resonating symphony; devotion favors yesterday Once again, let’s cherish every part of our heart’s puzzle piece Yet I am afraid, time’s fleeting Even so, we skip and jump landing strangely

Glow, by Keeno | Self-Cover

Rain drops pouring down Remind me of that day The pale blue sky above abstracting light

Far within the rain someone smiles afar So bright and innocent The vast sky sang Before I knew, seemed all long I grew up too fast The growing pains from before Have bled into my tears And lies we used to tell ourselves Were promises of love Those pains only grow As I remember

The fleetful red sky when you flew far away Glimmering as you lit the milky way I can no longer dream of anything Only you I miss you Despite all the clouds I look towards the stars Wishing you were here but I go on

I am reaching out on behalf of my dear friend, Mohamad S., who is facing one of the most challenging times of his life. Mohamad is 37 years old and left his homeland in 2015 in search of a safer and better future. He’s a kind, hardworking man, and his small family has always been his greatest priority.

Living abroad, Mohamad has recently endured unimaginable loss and financial strain. Amidst the ongoing conflict in his homeland, his mother passed away, leaving behind his sister and her five young children—the last remaining members of his immediate family.

As the situation worsened, Mohamad managed to help his sister and her children escape to safety in Egypt, covering their immediate needs and securing a temporary refuge for them. Since then, he has been fully responsible for providing everything they need to survive during this transition.

In his efforts to support his family and cope with this devastating loss, Mohamad has found himself deeply in debt. To make matters even more difficult, he recently underwent knee surgery, which limits his ability to return to work for the foreseeable future. This has made it even harder for him to manage his financial responsibilities and the pressing need to provide his family with a stable future.

Mohamad is now working to bring his sister and her five children to join him in Belgium, where he hopes they can find stability and opportunity after all they’ve endured. This transition, however, requires significant resources that he is currently unable to meet alone.

For privacy reasons, we are not sharing Mohamad’s full name, as he has chosen to keep his identity discreet. While he initially refused the idea of asking for help, I couldn’t stand by and watch him struggle alone. I insisted on doing this for him because he deserves a chance to overcome these challenges.

Your contribution will help Mohamad repay the debt incurred during this difficult time, cover ongoing living expenses for his family, and assist with the costs involved in bringing them safely to Belgium.

Mohamad has been a good friend of mine for years, and I’ve always admired his resilience and generosity. Any support, no matter the size, will make an incredible difference in helping Mohamad and his family rebuild their lives after these painful experiences.

Thank you for reading his story and considering helping a man who has always done everything he can for his loved ones.

Adam

✅ Vetted by Association: @bilal-salah0

Donate & share: Donation Link

"When you love someone you find a way to stay" - Pasek and Paul

"Last night I watched a film called Garden State. Not all of it, but most of it. [...] It’s about this guy Andrew, and you’re never quite sure whether Andrew’s life is truly depressing or not. It seems like he has no decent friends or family, but then he meets this girl (typically happy- go-lucky, quirky, and beautiful Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl Natalie Portman, of course) who teaches him how to live properly again. [...] It’s very obvious that Zach Braff (who wrote, directed, acted, and compiled the soundtrack) created this film about himself. Maybe that’s what made it so real to me."

and i can't stop thinking about how much this parallels solitaire.

'it’s about this guy Andrew, and you’re never quite sure whether Andrew’s life is truly depressing or not.' -> tori is an unreliable narrator so we experience everything in heightened and/or sensationalised way

'It seems like he has no decent friends or family, but then he meets this girl (typically happy- go-lucky, quirky, and beautiful Manic-Pixie-Dream-Girl Natalie Portman, of course) who teaches him how to live properly again.' -> in solitaire tori is not on good terms with any of her friends and has a fairly hostile relationship with her parents, then she meets michael who appears to be happy-go-lucky (but he's much more complex)

'It’s very obvious that Zach Braff (who wrote, directed, acted, and compiled the soundtrack) created this film about himself. Maybe that’s what made it so real to me.' -> this could be a stretch, but alice has said multiple times that she chanelled the emotions she felt when writing solitaire into the book, and that she found this to be very cathartic- and it's this reason that so many people love solitaire, seeing tori experiece all this comforts them

I am in a land that cannot be seen

It’s became my home because of the fire that drew me

I began painting the look of this home into a stone

Never leaving my side…

But for what cost? What price to pay at bay?

I love painting when simple to picture

The feeling of closing my eyes and the colors of my dreams

The way it lies beneath my feet

The smells of the sunflowers

Things like those tell me to paint

But it only so brings such pain…

Certain measures make me wonder, quite effortlessly

If the place I’ve discovered was meant to be an escape then why is it so complicit?

There’s nothing else to it?

Would that be correct, would say so certain?

The fire it gives me reminds me to breathe, to tell my story Yet art from my dreams seems too fragile

My fingertips may take bits of it to create yet the inevitability is burdening

If I am to paint, write, sing, simply create

Oh create

Why do I suffer from eventual disaster?

Art is chaos made from crisis

But somehow I’m human

Made for priss and perfection

That’s what they told of god’s creations

Yet god’s a stranger crafted by biased tellers

Art is selection, to those who have it

It’s a story that I don’t understand

A craft with my own two hands

But to prove that it’s mine is a show that’s never stopping

To endure the suffering was my choosing

But I find it to be a truth that’s comforting

Painting with words for a understanding

Black eyes in a coldened gaze

Black sky for a freezened state

A black world that isn’t so deep

A messy set of feeling that isn’t thrilling

Touching for that punches my fingers

Running won’t work but a somehow reeks for reason within it

Only to find nothing next minute

There’s no sensibility each time I’m aware

Of how unclear when I touch beyond my repair

My eyes are black as I cannot see myself, oh dear

I feel like I’m trapped in eternal sleep of a disastrous nightmare

I cannot speak of it, I cannot understand it

I only ignore it

Even so it won’t reason with me

As I’m blind when the reek of temptation fills me

I wish at this point for it to go away

For the desires that fuel me, disgusting desires

Eternal sleep of a disastrous nightmare

How can I open my eyes and say truly?

“Temptation is only black, not white”

I try, and try, and try, I try every time to see where myself relies in this world

But it’s still cold and black that I cannot see…but do I wish to move? Do I dare too?

Deep down inside there’s fillings that reside

Loneliness, guilt, shame, a big black depression that fills me with rage

Temptation enables the shame but yet I won’t listen to the me who can see

But for such a person to exist would be too easy not-to miss

Scared for such a person, scared of themself, scared to be clever, scared to be everything

And I’m blinded each time I hurt myself because of it

Each time I dig in and give in to temptation